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June 25 , 2015

Exemption No. 11921 Regulatory Docket No. FAA

- 2012

- 0747

Mr. Michael Doerge

Chief Pilot Western Airways, Inc.

200 Jim Davidson Drive Sugar Land, TX 77478

Dear Mr. Doerge:

This letter is to inform you that we have granted your request for exemption. It transmits our decision, explains its basis, and gives you the conditions and limitations of the exemption, including the date it ends.

The Basis for Our Decisio n
By letter dated November 25, 2014, you petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on behalf of Western Airways, Inc. (Western Airways) for an extension of Exemption No. 10731. That exemption from §§ 61.3(a) and (c) and 91.203(a) and (b) of Titl e 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) allows Western Airways to continue operating its aircraft with

a company

- provided facsimile of pilot and medical certificates to its pilot crewmembers and following incidental loss or mutilation of an aircraft’s a irworthiness or registration certificate. Although you requested an extension of Exemption No.10731 (copy enclosed), th at exemption expired on March 31, 2015 . Therefore , we will treat your request as a new petition

.

The FAA has determined that good cause exists for not publishing a summary of the petition

in the Federal Register because the requested exemption would not set a precedent, and any delay in acting on this petition would be detrimental to Western Airways

.

The FAA has issued a grant of exemptio n in circumstances similar in all material respects to those presented in your petiti on. In Grant of Exemption No. 10731 (copy e nclosed), the FAA2

found that the loss of aircraft registration and/or airworthiness certificates presents a unique problem to t hose operators using their aircraft in air carrier operations. The FAA concluded that an equivalent level of safety could be met by the petitioner’s use of temporary substitute documentation, issued under an approved program containing suitable controls an d safeguards.

Having reviewed your reasons for requesting an exemption, I find that

—

 they are similar in all material respects to relief previously requested in the

e nclosed Grant of Exemption No. 10731 ;

 the reasons stated by the FAA for granting the encl osed Grant of Exemption No.

10731 also apply to the situation you present; and

 a grant of exemption is in the public interest.

Our Decision

The FAA has made updates to the previous conditions and li mitations of Exemption No.

10731 to clarify our original intent, to refine our requirements, and for standardization with

similar exemptions. While the relief does not change substantially, all users of this exemption should thoroughly review the revised conditions and limitations of this new exemption

.

In add ition, and while not specifically requested, the FAA notes the relief from § 61.3(a) includes relief from the requirement for a required flight crewmember to have photo identification that is in that person's physical possession or readily accessible in th e aircraft when exercising the privileges of their pilot certificate. This additional relief is consistent with relief granted in similar petitions and is reflected in the updated conditions and limitations.

U nder the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. §§ 1 06(f), 40113 and 44701, which the FAA Administrator has delegated to me, I hereby grant Western Airways , Inc. an exemption from 14 CFR § 91.203 to the extent necessary to allow Western Airways to temporarily operate

certain U.S.

- registered aircraft without the airworthiness certificate or certificate of aircraft registration , or both, onboard the aircraft. Further, I grant Western Airways , Inc. an exemption

from 14 CFR §§ 61.3(a) and (c) to the extent necessary to allow continue d operation of its

aircraft w ith a company

- provided facsimile of pilot and medical certificates to its pilot

crewmembers

, and establish special procedures that enable it to issue to its flight crewmembers, on a temporary basis, confirmation of any required crewmember certificate or ph oto identification based on information contained in Western Airway’s approved record system. This exemption is subject to the conditions and limitations described below.

Conditions and Limitations

1. This exemption is issued for the purpose of preventing cancellation of air carrier flights in situations where:3

a. A pilot flight crewmember’s FAA airman certificate, FAA medical certificate, and/or photo identification are valid but physically unavailable; or,

b. An aircraft’ s airworthiness certificate, and/or ai rcraft’s registration certificate are valid, but physically unavailable.

Relief from §§ 61.3(a) and (c)

2. The privileges of this exemption are intended for situations where pilots have no access to airman services at the faa.gov website for receiving via fa x or internet

download FAA

- issued documents containing temporary authority to exercise certificate privileges.

3. This exemption allows Western Airways to develop and issue to a pilot flight crewmember a document confirming his/her FAA

- issued pilot and medica l certification. The document issued by Western Airways must be in the pilot flight crewmember’s physical possession when exercising the privileges of the exemption and must contain the following information :

a. The pilot flight crewmember’s certification inf ormation from his/her pilot and medical certificates;

b. The exact text or a photocopy of this exemption; and

c. The Western Airways confirmation document must include the following

statements:

i. “Issued under the authority of Exemption No. 11921 .”

ii. “Expires [insert date/time 72 hours after issuance].”

iii. “The privileges of this exemption may be exercised only for flights within the District of Columbia and the 48 contiguous United States, or is an intrastate operation that does not involve flight through

international airspace.”

iv. “The privileges of this exemption may only be exercised for scheduled or unscheduled air carrier flights. The privileges of this exemption may not be exercised for operations under part 91, or part 91 Subpart K.”

4. Before conducting operations un der this exemption, Western Airways must receive approval from its FAA principal operations inspector (POI) for the procedures Western Airways intends to employ in issuing a confirmation document to pilot flight crewmembers who do not have in their persona l possession the required pilot and/or medical certificate or photo identification. These procedures must include a4

method to ensure positive identification of the pilot flight crewmember when the pilot no longer has photo identification.

5. Each pilot fligh t crewmember who operates a flight under this exemption must:

a. As soon as practicable, obtain from airman services at the faa.gov website a document containing temporary authority to exercise certificate privileges;

b. If the pilot flight crewmemember’s FAA pi lot and medical certificate are permanently lost or destroyed, the pilot flight crewmember must comply with the requirements of § 61.29 and ensur e a request for a replacement certificate from the FAA is made within 72 hours of the initiation of any flight conducted under this exemption. Western Airways is authorized to make this application to the FAA on behalf of the pilot flight crewmember; and

c. Provide a copy of FAA

- issued documents containing temporary authority to exercise certificate privileges to West ern Airways within 24 hours of receipt of

that document.

Relief from §§ 91.203(a) and (b )

6. Western Airways must apply for and receive approval from its FAA principal operations inspector (POI) for an amendment to its operations specifications authorizing it to exercise the privileges of this exemption.

7. The privileges of this exemption may be exercised by Western Airways only for temporary replacement of a missing or mutilated airworthiness or registration certificate that is current and in effect and appli es only to U.S

- registered aircraft listed in Western Airways’ operations specifications.

8. For replacement of an aircraft’s airworthiness certificate and registration certificate, Western Airways must develop a comprehensive program that ensures:

a. An appropri ate entry in the aircraft logbook for continued operation of its aircraft when the airworthiness certificate or registration certificate is lost, stolen, or mutilated;

b. Timely application is made to the FAA for a replacement certificate; and

c. A replacement certificate from the FAA is installed on the affected aircraft.

This program must be FAA

- approved, and instructions for its use shall be included

in Western Airways ’ air carrier manual as required by 14 CFR § 135.21.

9. The program specified in Condition/Li mitation No. 8(a) must contain:5

a. A requirement that the following statement be entered into the appropriate section of the aircraft logbook whenever this exemption is to be utilized:

“This aircraft is being operated without a certificate of [registration, airworthiness] under the provisions of Exempt ion No. 11921 for a period of 3 working days, not including weekends or federal holidays, following the start of the next business day, beginning:

Time:______ Date:___ 20___”

The signature, title, and station location of the person(s) authorized by Condition No. 9(b) below must be affixed to this statement.

b. Identification of the designated person(s) by name, including job titles and responsibilities within Western Airways ’ maintenance organization authorized

to enter the statement outlin ed in Condition/Limitation No. 9 (a) and the

method or methods where in the documents required under

Condition/ Limitation No. 9 will be transmitted to the affected aircraft;

c. An arrangement whereby those persons within th e organi zation responsible for Western Airways ’ certificates of registration and airworthiness will maintain a

current record of the data from the certificates of each aircraft within its fleet which may be affected by this exemption. This data must be made readil y available to those persons identified in Condition/Limitation No. 9 (b) and must be kept current at all times;

d. Procedures to ensure that the FAA principal maintenance inspector with responsibility for Western Airways would be immediately notified of a mi ssing or mutilated certificate and that timely application is made to the FAA for a replacement certificate (in the case of an airworthiness certificate) or a duplicate certificate (in the case of a registration certificate).

10. A copy of this exemption and a copy of the operations specifications authorizing its use must be carried on board the aircraft when exercising the privileges of this exemption.

11. The privileges of the exemption may only be exercised when the affected flight is operated totally within t he contiguous 48 States of the United States, including the

District of Columbia.6

Thi s exemption terminates on July 31, 2017, unless sooner superseded or rescinded.

Sincerely,

/s/ John Barbagallo Deputy Director, Flight Standards Service

Enclosure Exemption No. 10731